Tamaru, the Light in Gaara's Darkness
by Kay Lyn Jay
Summary: Gaara finds himself befriending the new girl at school and, against his own will, admiring her. Will she change him for the better?
1. Chapter 1

Bring, bring, bring!!!

Tamaru's alarm clock went off. She opened her eyes and looked up at the sealing. "Ugh" she said as she got out of bed and went into her bathroom. She looked in the mirror and saw how kinky her hair was. She plugged in her straightener and walked back into her room to change. She put on her pink embroidered top that went down over her thighs and a pair of clingy shorts that almost touched her knees. The shirt slit in a wide upside down "v" revealing the covered portion of her thighs.

She walked back into her bathroom and started straightening her hair. Just as she had the straightener up and ready her mother called, "hurry or you'll be late for school. It's your fist day at a new school, you don't want to be late do you?" tamaru was so surprised that she dropped the hot straightener on her wrist and it rolled over the counter. "Damn," she whispered to herself, as she picked up the straightener and clutched her newly burnt wrist. She answered her mothers question in her head, 'more than you know'

in about three minutes she had finished and walked into her bedroom. She looked over the messy floor and moved a few things before she found her book bag. She picked it up and ran down the stairs. There was a bowl of cereal on the table and a spoon shoved in it. "Hurry and eat so we can get going." he mother said sitting at the table, reading a magazine. Tamaru just rolled her eyes and sat down.

She looked in to the bowl of choco puff's that sat before her. It made her want to puke, she was far to nervous to eat, and all in all she wasn't very hungry. "Mom, I'm not hungry" she said pushing the bowl away from her. He mother looked up from the magazine and smiled, "nervous stomach?" she asked picking up the bowl and dumping the soggy cereal into the garbage. Tamaru nodded and stood up, taking her bag with her.

She and her mother slipped their shoes on and walked out the door. Tamaru's mother searched through her purse for a second and then pulled out a remote garage door opener. She pressed the red button and the door slid lazily upward. Tamaru got in the car and shut the door. Her mother turned the key and the read convertible purred nicely as they backed out of the driveway. Tamaru watched the new houses whizzing past as they sped to her new school.

tamaru thought of all the schools she had moved to. She hated them all. She never made friends and she always became the one no one cared about or liked. But she always stood her ground when someone tried to over power her. Her dad had taught her that. But since the car crash... she stopped herself form thinking on it, not wanting to get herself worked up just before she got to school. Four minutes later they were there.

As her mother pulled up, all the kids seemed to look at her. She wished she could just become one with the leather and disappear. Unfortunately she did not succeed and every one continued to stare. Her mother pulled up into a parking spot and waited for her to get out. Tamaru didn't move, hoping her mother would just drive off and let her stay home. But unfortunately for her, her mother said, " well, go on. Oh, here is your lunch money, and tamaru," she said waiting for her daughter to acknowledge her. Tamaru looked at her and waited for her mother to continue. "Please, please, please try to make some friends. It will make your life and mine a whole lot easier, okay." she said as tamaru nodded and stepped out of the car.

She shut the door and started up the side walk. The kids would look at her and then keep talking with their friends. Just as she went into the big double doors, she saw a boy sitting on the thick marble railing with his back against the wall of the school, reading a book. But he caught her attention because of how he looked.

He had fiery red hair that sort of spiked every where. His eyes seemed to have black all around the edges and his pupil... was gone. All he had was an electric blue round disk that filled his eyes. It was quite appealing. He also wore a black robe, black pants and some strips of white cloth hung out of some of the folds.

She was so busy looking at him she ran right into another person. She stumbled backwards and looked up. "Oh gosh, i'm so sorry." she said apologizing as fast as she could. He brushed off his coat and looked down at her. "You better be," he said glaring at her. She lost all her pity and glared back, 'what the hell, I said I was sorry.' she thought to herself.

"Now get out of my way, you blind little girl." he said pushing her to one side. This boy was handsome with his nice black shaggy hair and his blue shirt whose collar rose up a little to high and his tan shorts that went past his knees. But he was such a prick, "you are the most arrogant prick I have ever met!" she yelled at him. He stopped dead and tamaru put her hands up to her mouth. ' oh shit, I wasn't supposed to say that!' she thought to herself. Even the boy that had not even looked up from his book once, raised his head to look at what was going on.

"What did you just say?" the boy in the blue shirt, asked in a low hissing voice. Tamaru didn't reply and waited for him to do something. He turned around and looked at her with menacing blue eyes. The boy with the book closed his book and sat it on the thick railing he was sitting on. His expression never changed so only god could know what he was thinking. Just as tamaru thought of this the boy in the blue shirt charged toward her. She reacted by falling to her knees, putting her hands over her head and ducking low to the ground.

The boy was so blind with rage that he dashed right into her and tripped. He slid across the stone floor and laid there for a moment. But without warning he sprang right back up. "You are so dead!" he shouted, attempting another charge. Just as he did the red haired boy jumped up and ran in front of tamaru. She watched in amazement as he bent sand (from where I don't know...) To his will and stopped the boy dead in his tracks, making him almost twist an ankle.

"Enough, sasuke. You foolish brute. She's new and it was just an accident." the boy in front of her said to the one that was now lying on the floor. The boy named sasuke just glared at them both and got up. He walked away and brushed some of the sand off his shirt. Tamaru looked back at the boy in front of her. He turned around and looked at her. "You need to be more careful." he said in a tone that made him sound...emotionless and crazy all at the same time, even more appealing. She nodded and then remembered what her mom said about making a friend. She looked at the boy packing his book into a bag, which she noticed that the book was on shukaku the sand demon.

She walked up to him with her bag slung over her shoulder and said, " um, thanks. My name is tamaru." the boy slung he bag over his shoulder too and looked at her with a look of slight annoyance, slight. "Gaara," he said back to her as he walked into the school. Just as he disappeared into the hallways, the bell rang. She ran inside to find her first class of the new school year.


	2. Chapter 2

The halls were jammed with students rushing around to find every thing that they needed. She pulled a registration paper out of her pocket and looked down at her locker number. "323," she said to herself as she looked at the passing lockers. Tamaru passed plenty of lockers before she found hers and as she walked up to it she noticed that gaara, was standing right next to it. He was calmly getting some books and a notebook. As he closed his locker he noticed her.

She didn't say anything but put her bag in her locker and got some school books out of it. She got a pen and closed her locker door. As she did so the boys face appeared were the locker door had been. She was so startled that she almost dropped her books. He never smiled once and didn't look at her. He just leaned up against the lockers, staring at the opposite wall. "So, you're the new person moving into this locker. Give me you schedule." he said bluntly. He didn't ask for her schedule, he demanded it.

Tamaru didn't argue but just handed him the paper and let him look it over. He smirked a few times, but only for a second if that. Finally he handed the schedule back and said, "do you know where you're going?" he asked in his tone that suggested that her cared about nothing. "Well, I... not a clue." she said looking at the room numbers and teachers names. Gaara smirked again and looked at her with is big, blue eyes.

"Well, as far as that schedule says, you and I are in the same classes. I'll take you to them." he said starting off down the hall. She immediately followed and watched the hallway go past. Many doors and students could be seen as she moved along down the hall following gaara. Many started whispering and pointing. Now tamaru really felt like she wanted to just sink into the floor and become invisible.

Finally gaara turned into the room that she supposed was her class room. Just as they walked in, the bell gave a loud ring and the teacher said, "you're lucky gaara. This time you're on time, but don't forget, if you're late again I'll have to give you detention." gaara pretended to listen and sat down in an empty seat in the back. There was one more seat beside a girl with long blonde hair. Tamaru took the seat and looked up at the teacher.

Just as he started talking about some kind of king from France, the girl beside her passed her a note. She looked down at the paper. It was nameless and plain. She put her hands under the desk so the teacher wouldn't see it and started to read it in her head, '_hi, my name's Ino, what's yours? Hey I am going out with my friends later after school and I was wondering if you would want to come.' _Tamaru replied by putting her name on the paper and saying yes. The girl smiled at her and tossed the note in the garbage.

After that class she waited till every one started out of the room to leave her seat. She walked out the door, but was stopped by gaara, as he stepped in front of her. "What," she said not realizing it was him. She stopped talking and looked at him. He just looked at her and said, "you have gym next. It's that way." he said flatly as he started off in the opposite direction. Once again she followed him until he got to the boys locker room.

"Just go up those stairs, okay." he said, walking into the boys locker room. She looked into the boys locker room as she went up the stairs that passed them and noticed sasuke with his shirt off. She looked at how muscular and chiseled he was. From his collar bone to his waist band, everything was all toned up. Just as the locker room disappeared from her view, she could see gaara pulling his shirt up.

A pinkish blush crept onto her face but soon disappeared as she opened the heavy wooden door to her locker room. All the girls were taking off their shirts and pants and slipping on the girls gym uniform. As she walked to the office door she saw a big lady that she decided must be the teacher. Tamaru walked up to her and cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she said to the woman. She turned around to look at tamaru and smiled. "Well hello there. You must be the new one, eh? Here is your locker number and don't worry about the uniform, it's already in there.

Tamaru smiled back and thanked her. She walked back the isle of girls and found the locker that was said to be hers. Beside her was a girl with brown hair tide into neat brown buns placed perfectly and evenly on each side of her head. The girl smiled politely as tamaru put her stuff on a bench and opened her locker. "Hi, I'm tenten!" the girl said as she finished tying her sneakers. Tamaru smiled back and said, "I'm tamaru" while she pulled on the short shirt that almost showed her belly button. She was glad they didn't though, 'No wonder they make us work so hard. So we can keep fitting into these tiny little gym suits' she thought to herself as she pulled the shorts out.

She laughed to herself as she pulled of her long shorts and replaced them with her new short shorts. "Wow, you look good in those. I have seen some pretty bad sights with people wearing those close." tenten said as she walked out over to the water fountain, to fill up her water bottle. Tamaru smiled at the complement and bent over to tie her sneakers.

Once she finished, she walked over to the wall and lined up like the other girls. Tamaru looked down the line and up it. The girls all looked like cheer leaders or something, even tamaru thought she looked like one with the skimpy little suit on. Suddenly tamaru heard the thudding of the teachers sneakers as she walked down the line of girls. She stopped in the center of the line and started telling them what they were going to do.

"It's a very nice day and since it's the first day of gym, I figured you girls would like to have some fun. Instead of doing exercises, we're going down to the field to compete with the boys. And since this class is two periods long, I think you'll get a good enough workout." she said as she opened the door that led down into the hall that led out to the field. Tamaru and the other girls walked down the stairs and into the hall. They all stopped as the teacher knocked on the boys gym teachers door. "Are you guys all set?" she yelled into the room.

They heard him yell yes and he opened the door. Out stepped a tall, shirtless, muscular man. And behind him the boys followed all standing with their groups of friends and talking. All the guys uniforms were, was a pair of long baggy shorts, the color of which they could choose, and sneakers. All the guys were shirtless. Some of the girls blushed and looked away, trying to hide behind someone because they felt naked with their skimpy little uniform. Others just stared back at the boys who were staring at them.

As they started walking out the doors, tamaru saw some of the girls start walking with the guys. A lot of people seemed to have a good friend whether boy or girl. As she thought of this as she spotted gaara walking out, last in line. It was then that the pink blush turned red as she looked at gaara. His expression annoyed and careless, as it was since the first time she had ever seen him. His chest was hairless and well toned. Every muscle was chiseled and prominent. He wore a pair of black shorts. 'Must be his favorite color.' she thought to herself.

She looked away before he saw her looking and tried to walk a little faster. As they went out side a boy with long hair and gray round disks for pupils, like gaaras, walked up to her and looked at her for a moment not saying anything, "what?" she asked getting annoyed at his staring, particularly at her chest. Finally the boy spoke up and said in a firm voice, "sasuke, wanted me to-to ask you if-"he cut off briefly before returning to his sentence, "he wants to know if you would except his apology for what happened earlier." the boy said looking as if what sasuke was asking was a joke.

Tamaru laughed to herself and looked at the boy, "tell him, no okay?" she said as she started to walk away. The boy nodded and walked off back toward sasuke and his group. She still laughed to herself until she ran into someone. She stumbled back and looked up to see gaara. 'So, he caught up.' she thought to herself as he smirked. "Wow, twice in one day. You better watch yourself." he said with an edge of sarcasm in his voice. She put her hand on the back of her head and tried not to look at his body, for fear of blushing again.

She tried hard to concentrate on his face as he spoke. "So, what did neji want?" gaara asked looking over at sasukes group where the neji had gone. She had to laugh again even thinking about it. "Sasuke wanted to apologize." she said still laughing to herself, well on the inside anyway. "Oh, and what'd you say?" he said still expressionless. But in some odd way she detected a hint of... worry in his voice. Even his face gave some of it away, though not by much, not much at all. "I, said no." tamaru said turning to face the group.

She turned to him again and looked at him as he asked, "So, do you want to be my partner, for the games?" she nodded as she looked around and saw that every one else had a partner. She smiled to herself, thinking about how she would have said yes even if no one was partnered yet. They walked side by side down into the field and stood by the lines listening to the rules.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: thanks you guys for your replies. I have been super busy but here is the next chappy and plzz plzz review!

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"Oh wait, wait! I forgot, if you're in track, your coach wants you running during gym. Those people should be ino, sakura, tamaru, temari, gaara, neji, and sasuke. You guys head on down, everyone else start with your games." the boy gym teacher said. Tamaru and gaara walked up to the track, followed by the other members of the track team. They all walked into the track gates and started running.

Gaara ran right beside tamaru and sasuke wasn't far behind. As they ran tamaru thought of something she thought odd. "You don't look like the type to be in track." she panted as they rounded the first turn. Gaara looked over at her with a smirk on his face again. "What type do I look like then?" he asked in a panting voice too. She looked down at her running feat while they finished their first lap. She looked over at gaara again and saw his fiery hair flapping around as he ran. "You look like the... depressed, loner type. Just my opinion. And i'm talking at first glance." she said, hoping he wouldn't get mad at what she said.

He didn't say anything for a minuted then he said, " I was..." gaara looked down a his sneakers and then squinted into the sun as he looked straight ahead. " well, what happened to make you change?" she asked trying not to go to far with the conversation. After all she had just met him that morning. "I met you." he said simply. Tamaru stopped dead in her tracks as he spoke. She watched him start running faster as he sped toward the gates.

He ran so hard the top of his boxers stuck out and the sweat he had accumulated glistened in the sun and his hair stuck out everywhere. He looked so hot. The bell rang and he walked toward the school. Tamaru jogged back to the gates and up to the school. She went into the changing room and pulled off her close. She put on her normal ones and looked in the mirror. She decided she looked good enough and ran down the stairs.

Withing minutes the bell rang and she went towards her next class, hoping the day would go by fast. Fortunately it did, and since it was the first day she had almost no homework. She went to her locker, hoping to see gaara. Ever since gym, she hadn't seen a trace of gaara in the halls, except for in class. She still didn't see him anywhere. She quickly grabbed her bag and was walking so fast it was on the brink of crossing the line between running and walking. "Maybe I can find him on the way out." she said to herself in her disparateness. She walked out onto the stone steps, but no gaara.

She hung her head and went down to the curb and waited for her mom to come pick her up. As she waited, she decided that she just wanted to stay home tonight and told ino that she would pass on going out that night. Soon her mom was pulling up in the red convertible. Tamaru opened the door and plunked down in the car. As they drove towards the house, tamaru's mother started talking. " you know we have very nice neighbors. They came by earlier and when they saw your picture on the fire place, they went crazy. They have a son just your age." she said, looking at her daughter who was still staring out the window, looking at houses and shops whiz by.

"You know," her mother started, " there is a boy who lives next door. I saw him this morning."

" how old is he?" tamaru asked in a shout, for her words were practically torn away by the wind since her mother had the top down. Her mother smiled, seeing her interest in the topic and said, "he's fifteen, just like you." tamaru still didn't look at her mother as they soon pulled up into the driveway. As tamaru opened her door she asked her mother, " what does he look like?" her mother smiled and pushed her door shut.

"Well I guess you'll just have to find out, won't you?" she said making her way to the porch. Tamaru just shrugged her shoulders and looked over at the house to their right.

"Mom, you know that won't work on me." she said, opening the door to the house. Her mother just lifted one eyebrow and dropped her purse on the kitchen table.

"Oh, really?" she said in a sarcastic voice that could easily dig itself deep into tamaru's nerves. Tamaru just shook it off and went up the stairs. She started her shower and got undressed. She got in and the hot water helped to relieve the stress she had accumulated during the day. She soon finished and walked into her room. She got dressed in a shirt that was black and fit loosely over her body and put on a pair of blue pajama pants.

Then, as she did every night she walked out onto her back porch and into her back yard. She looked up at the sky which was getting dimmer with each passing minute and looked around at her neat little yard. It was fenced in and bordered the neighbors yard. A picnic table sat in the middle of the yard and an old close line pole sat to the left of the yard. As she walked over to the picnic table, she heard the leaves to the corner of the yard rustle.

She looked over and after scanning the area briefly, decided it was just the wind or perhaps a small animal. She walked up to the picnic table and climbed onto the top. She laid herself out on the wide flat surface of the table and looked up at the stars. Every night she would come and lay out side to watch the stars. It was her favorite thing to do. Once or twice she mapped them out with the help of her mother. She could name a few, but names were of no importance. All she really liked was the way they shined. It was just so calm and quiet and... big.

Just as she got settled in, she heard someone walk up to the fence that bordered the right side of the yard. She shot up and looked over at the dark figure standing by the fence. But it didn't take her long to figure out who it was.

" gaara?" she said questionably.

"Hey," he said in his still careless voice. She smiled and watched him jump over the fence. "May I?" he asked, directing his attention to the picnic table she was laying on.

'Wow, he asked.' she thought to herself nodding as she slid over to make some room. He got up on the table and looked up into the sky too.

"So, what brings you out so late?" gaara asked, still watching the dazzling stars sparkle over the darkened sky.

"I, like to look at the stars. I do it every night like my-" she paused swallowing hard, but gathered herself again and finished, "dad and I used to. But not anymore." she said, keeping her eyes toward the sky.

She could feel gaara's eyes on her and turned her head to look at him. "I'm sorry for, you know, today," he said, trying to find the right words. She nodded as gaara scooted a little closer. She smiled and for the first time since they had met, gaara smiled. A real smile, not a smirk, or a crazy smile. Just a nice, friendly smile. It made tamaru feel a wonderful sensation of warmth.

Gaara started to slide a bit closer to tamaru, but stopped when he felt shukaku enter his thoughts. **Oh yeah, check that out. Well come on what are you waiting for, make the move! **Shukaku shouted trying to urge gaara on, but gaara easily fought this urge. For the moment at least. Again they turned their attention toward the stars. "So, your the one who lives next door." she said as gaara watched the light of the stars reflect in her eyes.

He tore his attention away from her eyes and nodded. Just as gaara was about to speak, tamaru's porch light flicked on. "Tamaru, are you coming in." her mother called. Gaara shot up and jumped off the table. "Yes, I'll be in, in a minute!" she called back, trying to hide her anger. She looked back at gaara who was ready to take off towards the fence. She put her hand on his shoulder and he stopped. Turning around slowly he looked into her green eyes with his electric blue round discs. She smiled and did something so bold that even shukaku, gaara's demon, was surprised.

But that didn't stop shukaku from liking it. Tamaru hugged him and said, "good night." shukaku made everything inside gaara scream to hug her back but he restrained himself. She smiled and walked up to her porch and opened the door. As she closed the screen door she looked back at gaara. He grinned a faint smile and turned back toward the fence. He hopped over it and started walking to his house. Temari shouted out the window, "come on! We would like to go to bed!" she yelled down at him. He just ignored her yelling and opened the screen door, as he listened to shukaku rant about how gaara should have taken advantage of her.

**How could you just let her go! She was totally into you! And did you see her stomach? She had a cool circle tattoo around her belly button. That girl is so hardcore. **Shukaku hissed as gaara shut and locked the door to his room. Gaara sat down on the bed and calmly replied, '_I just met her, why would I want to do that?' _Shukaku hissed and shouted at gaara. **Why?! Why?! I'll tell you why, because she's hot, and you've never had a sex life or a love life, and you know you like her, and most important of all, I don't know about you but I don't want to die a virgin. **As shukaku finished gaara realized that what he was saying was true. Gaara had never liked any one but himself up until now and no one, as far as he knew, had ever liked him. This got gaara feeling uncertain and unknowing.

It started making him flustered and angry, mostly at shukaku. '_Aah!,' _gaara screamed inside his head, '_shut the hell up!!'_ As gaara finished he slammed his face into his pillow and started thinking, then sleeping, then dreaming. Gaara awoke to the sound of someone slamming their fist into his door. "Gaara! Gaara! Did you fall asleep or what? What the hell open the fricken door, if you want a ride to school!" she screamed. Gaara shot up and looked at the clock, 'oh fuck, no, no, I couldn't have fallen asleep. Damn.' he thought to himself as he ran over to the door. He opened it and ran down the stairs, hoping that temari hadn't already left.

Unfortunately as he bolted out the door, temari was pulling out of the drive way, with no intention of stopping. He wasn't going to make a fool of himself by running after her, so he was just going to walk to school really fast. He closed the door of the house, which he had left wide open and walked up to the fence gate.

AN: well there it is. Plz review and let me know what you think. If I get at least 3 reviews I will put a chapter up by tomorrow afternoon/evening. Thnx!


	4. Chapter 4

AN: hey, I really wish people would review my FF but I will continue to post. So please read and REVIEW!!!

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Tamaru looked up at the clock on the wall as she finished eating her breakfast and looked at her mother, who was trying to find her car keys. "Are you sure you looked every where?" tamaru asked, practically begging the keys to make themselves known. But, unfortunately, her mother nodded, "yes, I've looked every where. I'm sorry chick, but I think you might be walking to school today." her mother said, finally giving up the search.

Tamaru frowned and glared at the table, as if blaming it for the missing keys. She finally pulled herself up out of the chair, and started toward the door. It groaned as she opened it and banged loudly as she slammed it shut. She walked out across the yard and toward the sidewalk. When she turned to the right to start toward the school, she saw gaara. Her frown faded into a smile as she caught up with him.

"Hey, gaara," she said as she walked up to him. Gaara shivered at her presence and felt himself starting to get an odd sensation he had never felt before in his life. 'What, is this?' he said to shukaku when tamaru was right beside them. Shukaku bellowed a great and hearty laugh at this question. If shukaku was in a body form of his own, gaara would have glared mercilessly at him. **This, feeling, is was happens when you really want to- er I mean, when you like someone a lot. This is how you feel when you're in "love"** shukaku said, still giggling to himself every now and again.

Gaara just brushed him off, but was thankful for his advice. He looked at tamaru and smiled slightly, then looked back down at his feet. "My mom forgot where she put her keys so, I guess i'm walking with you." tamaru said as she looked over at gaara. He nodded and kept listening to shukaku talk about her tattoo, which was really familiar to him. Just as they rounded the corner of a street gaara new where he had seen it before.

On himself, where shukaku was sealed, On naruto, where the nine tailed fox was sealed, and now he was seeing it on her. He didn't want to ask but had to wonder which demon, she had sealed within her. They finally reached the school, and went to their lockers. Gaara still wanted to know which demon was sealed inside of her.

As the day rolled by, tamaru had gotten to know every one she had classes with. Even temari, gaara's older sister, had invited her to a sleep over she was having later that week. Tamaru excepted her invite, hoping she could make a few good friends besides gaara. Before she new it the bell rang and everyone was leaving the building. Gaara and tamaru walked out of the school and down to the side walk. Tamaru looked around for her mothers car, but didn't see it anywhere. "Guess i'm walking home too." she said starting down the sidewalk. Gaara followed and finally, after letting it eat away at him all day, asked her what demon was sealed inside her.

"Ugh, I don't want to butt into your personal life, but I have to know. What demon possesses you?" he asked, looking at her stomach. Tamaru looked down at the ground and then back up at him. She didn't know if he was playing mind games with her or not. Finally she decided she could trust him. "I-I do have a demon, but how did you know?" she said looking at his face, trying to find any hint of emotion. "He- I mean I, noticed your tattoo last night. But it isn't a tattoo, it's a seal. I know because naruto uzemaki and I both have a demon. I have shukaku, and naruto possesses the nine tailed fox. But I must know what demon possesses you?" gaara said getting a little edgy.

Tamaru sighed, and finally gave her secret to him. "I hold the power of inuka, the water snake demon. Just like your control over sand, I have the same control over water." she said, actually sounding ashamed. Gaara felt an explosion of joy run throughout his entire body. 'Finally, someone to share my thoughts and feelings with. Someone who knows what it's like.' gaara thought to himself.

Gaara just wanted to reach out and give her a hug as they reached their houses. They stood in tamaru's yard, with their bags slung over their shoulders. **Wait, make her prove her powers over water. **Shukaku said in gaaras mind. Gaara looked over at the bird bath that sat by the little Japanese cherry tree in her yard. Then he got an idea. "I believe you hold an influence over water, but shukaku doesn't believe me. He want's you to prove it by moving that water in the bird bath over there." gaara said looking at her in his most common expression. At times she wondered if his face was just stuck like that.

She sighed and looked over at the bird bath. Lifting her hand up into the air, she stared at the water, and without even moving her hand, it rose up high into the air. Gaara held back a gasp as she moved it around the yard with little or no movement. But she started to look pail and struggled with it. Gaara became worried but didn't want to interfere with her jutzu. With a final gasping heave of air, she collapsed on the ground and the water separated with a splash as it hit the ground.

Gaara ran to her side and desperately tried to wake her up, but to no avail. **Go to the house, see if her mothers home!!** Shukaku shouted in gaaras head. Gaara obeyed and ran to the house. He pounded on the door and looked at the windows. The door was locked and the house was filled with darkness. For once in his life gaaras face portrayed his worry and he could feel his heartbeat quicken when he saw her lying there, so motionless. Finally gaara decided what had to be done.

He kneeled down and scooped her up in his arms. He could tell she was still breathing, but it was faint. **What are you doing?! **Shukaku growled at him as they walked to his house. "I don't have any other choice," gaara said out loud to shukaku. They walked into the house and gaara walked into the living room where his sister was sitting on the couch. "Oh my god, is she dead?!" temari asked as she rushed over to feel the girls heart beat. Gaara stood back and watched, speechless, as temari checked for her breath.

Gaara almost fainted when temari spluttered, "she-she isn't breathing! Gaara, you have to give her mouth to mouth!" gaara looked at her pale face and then at his sisters. "What to what?" gaara shouted at her feeling so confused. "You have to put air in her lungs while I push on her chest to get her heart to keep beating. Come on we're wasting time!" temari yelled, practically dragging gaara over to tamaru. Gaara put his shaky hand over her nose and opened her mouth.

"When I say three, breath," temari shouted, pushing on her chest. "One, two, three" she said and gaara hesitated but finally put his mouth to hers. He felt a rushing sensation and shukaku wasn't even being serious. He pushed air into her lungs and put his head back up. Two more times of this and tamaru shot up from where she lay and coughed. But before she could speak she fell unconscious. Gaara sighed and looked down at the ground.

"Take her upstairs and put her in your bed, she needs a place to sleep. And then you'll come down here and tell me what just happened." temari said calmly as she walked out of the living room. Gaara obeyed and took her up to his room. He didn't mind giving her his bed, because he really didn't sleep anyway. Then he trudged back down the stairs to tell his sister what happened.

Tamaru opened her eyes and looked up at the sealing. She blinked a couple of times before she realized it wasn't her sealing. There was a giant crashing sound and she looked outside. A storm raged through town and lighting flickered every now and then. Even though the clouds could have covered up the day, she still new it was night. Tamaru looked over at a clock on a dresser and saw that it was one o'clock in the morning. She sighed and listened to the thunder roll across the land. To a normal person the thunder and lightning would have been troublesome and noisy, but to her it was really calming and soothing like the drumming sound of rain. But then again, she wasn't all that normal.

Tamaru sat up and looked at the shut door straight across from the bed. She got out of the bed and stared into the darkness. She swayed a little and felt dizzy for a second, but soon regained control of her limbs. Just as she was about to open the door, the handle jiggled and opened. Tamaru was to shocked to move and she could recognize the figure standing in front of her. It was gaara. She backed up as he walked toward her. He reached out a hand and turned on a light, which momentarily blinded them both.

When the blurriness had subsided, tamaru got a good look at gaaras face. It was so full of emotion. She could see the worry in his careworn face and the sadness that filled his eyes for the fear of doing something wrong that might have hurt tamaru. But as they locked eyes all gaara could say was, "are you, okay?" tamaru smiled and sat down on the bed because the room had started spinning, at least it felt like that to her. Gaara gave a sigh of relief and a smile crept over his face. He walked over to the bed, neither knowing what to say next.

Finally, gaara could no longer hold it in. He bent down and hugged her like they had been apart for months, years even. Tamaru gasped and was unable to even comprehend what was happening. Gaara never loosened his grip and waited for her to say something. Finally she got her head back into the picture and realized what gaara was doing. She returned the favor and then let him go. They looked at each other until tamaru asked, "were you up all night worrying about me?" she noticed that he couldn't have just been up because he didn't feel like sleeping. Gaara averted his eyes pulled himself farther onto the bed.

He folded his legs and looked at her again, while she did the same. "I was really worried about you but the truth is, I couldn't sleep if I tried. If I do fall asleep, shukaku will eat away at my personality until there is no gaara, only shukaku." he said, sounding as if he was trying really hard not to hurt her feelings. She didn't mind but did feel bad about the fact that he really couldn't sleep. She put her hands on his trying to comfort him, then realized how red his face was getting. She started her pull her hands away, but gaara held them tight, not wanting the warmth and comfort of them to leave.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: hey I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who reviewed! Thank you for your support and I would be more than happy to put up more chapters! So here goes chapter 5!

Tamaru opened her eyes and saw the little bit of light that the dawn had brought. She sat up and looked around. Gaara was staring out the window with his electric blue eyes. She walked over to him and smiled. He turned around and looked at her expecting her to say something but she just stared. Finally she said, "well, i guess i should be getting home, my mom is probably worried. Oh and could you stop by later? I need your help with something. Bye." she said, hugging him tightly. And for once he hugged her back.

She opened the bedroom door and walked down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door. The air smelled fresh and clean and cleansed from the nights rain. She walked down his side walk and over to her driveway. She opened the door to her house and walked inside. Her mother was sitting at the table with a magazine and a cup of coffee. "Oh hi sweetheart. Wow you're up early aren't you. Sorry i wasn't home last night i had to work late at the office. So where did you stay?" he mother asked with curiosity in her voice. Tamaru smiled and tried to come up with a good excuse and fast.

"Eh, you weren't home, the door was locked, and i couldn't find my key. So gaara's sister, the neighbors, let me stay with them. I didn't even hear you come home with the storm and all. And they wouldn't let me walk home, y'know because of the storm." tamaru spat out hoping that it made sense. Her mother bought the story tamaru gave. " well i'm off to work and i'll probably be home late, around ten. No boys." she said and winked as she pulled her long coat on. Tamaru smiled and looked down at the table.

Suddenly she thought of how much energy she had drained while moving the water in front of gaara the other day. '_I really need to practice.' _She thought to herself making her way to the back door. She walked out into the yard, which was full of puddles since it had rained. She looked around for a good one to start with and found a relatively small puddle in the center of the yard. She lifted her hand and thought hard about what she wanted it to do. It lifted off the ground and hovered there for a moment, then she moved it into another, bigger puddle. 'I wonder' she thought to herself staring at the drops of water on the fence around her yard. She lifted both of her hands and looked around, making sure there wasn't any thing that would surprise her, or make her loose her concentration.

Tamaru took in a deep breath and started to think about freezing the water. She felt her energy start to drain quickly but held on as long as she could. Finally she froze half of her fencing. But she felt her chakura depleting with every breath. She sat down on her picnic table and got her strength back. As she sat, catching her breath, she felt like she was being watched. She looked over to the fence side that bordered gaaras yard. She couldn't see anything, but still couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. When she convinced herself that she wasn't being watched, she started moving the water again.

She lifted up a puddle and started moving it around her body. She held it above her head, but heard a bush rustling and got distracted. She looked over to see what or who it was and the water dropped down onto her. She was soaked from head to foot in icy cold water. And if that wasn't bad enough, gaara had just stepped over into her yard. It was bad because she had a thin white shirt on and a thin white sports bra. Within seconds she felt the water take its effect.

Gaara blushed and tried to turn away but something inside him, not including shukaku, was actually enjoying the sight. Tamaru turned and walked up to her porch. "Uh, i have to change my clothes. You can come in if you want, my mom isn't home." she said opening her door. Gaara smiled and walked up to her porch. He hoped that the blush on his face was fading, for he didn't want tamaru to think that he was enjoying the sight of her cold and wet. He stepped through the door of her house and found himself in her kitchen. He pulled out an oak chair and sat down.

The house smelt clean and fresh, a lot better than his house. He stared down at the floor and traced the pattern of the tiles on the floor with his eyes. "Hey, thanks for lettin' me change. Er, so i need your help with something." tamaru said sporting fresh, dry clothes which consisted of a black shirt that let the bottom of her belly button stick out and a black pair of shorts with a white stripe down each side. Gaara had to stop himself from oggolling (i know it's not a real word but it's my word and it means "staring at" okay.) her long enough to look up at her face. "What is it?" he said keeping eye contact. It was then that he realized how deep and pretty her green eyes were.

"I need help, controlling my chakra when I move the water. I know you move sand all the time and must know how to control your chakra very well. Please teach me." Tamaru said sitting down by gaara. He nodded and looked over at the door. Tamaru pulled herself out of her chair and gaara did the same, following her out the door. They walked out into the wet backyard and tamaru lifted the water off the ground and brought it to gaara. "So, how do i control my chakra for this?" she asked, as she let the water fall to the ground at gaaras feet when she felt her strength draining.

Gaara pulled up his sleeves and looked at the water on the ground. "First, you need to be controlling your breathing. Then you need to work on concentration. You get distracted to easily." he said simply. So for the rest of the day, gaara coached tamaru on her water moving. Finally, after she had been moving water for almost three minutes, gaara stopped her. "No, no you technique is all wrong." he said walking up behind her. She blushed and gaara got right up against her and put his arms around her. He grabbed her arms and moved them in the proper form. She nodded as he let go and she did it herself. " good, just like that." gaara said, watching from the picnic table.

Suddenly she dropped down to the ground panting. "To, much." she panted sitting down on the wet ground. Gaara walked over to her and helped her up. Her butt was dripping wet with water and she was shivering. "Maybe we should get you inside." gaara suggested, walking her over to the porch. As gaara put his foot on the stone steps, he felt his foot slide out from under him. Both him and tamaru fell to the ground. Tamaru lay on top of gaara, still panting and gaara was blushing like crazy at having her lying on his chest.

He lay there for several minutes and then pulled both of them up off the ground. They walked up the stone steps and into the house. "Thanks," she said through chattering teeth and a cold wet body. She pulled a blanket out of the living room and curled up on her couch. Gaara sat down beside her and she gave him some of the blanket. "Here, you're probably cold, huh." she said looking into the fire. He thanked her and pulled the blanket up. Suddenly he flinched as he felt his feet collide with hers. She smiled and kept her foot up against his. He blushed and looked into the crackling fire. She smiled and looked into the fire until she heard her mom pull into the drive way. "Crap!" tamaru said as she whipped the blankets off. Gaara looked at her with a confused expression.

"My mom's home and you need to leave. She doesn't like it when i have guests over." tamaru said running to the back door. Just as she opened the back door to let gaara out she heard the keys turning in the front door. "Bye," tamaru whispered as she shoved gaara out the door. He smiled as the door shut. Just as the back door clicked shut the front door opened. "Hi sweety," tamaru's mom said as she shut the door behind herself and sat her various things down. Tamaru smiled and walked around the table and hugged her mom. "I'm tired, I think I'll go to bed. Gotta get up for school and i have a track meet after school." tamaru said faking a yawn. He mother nodded and looked at tamaru with the 'i know you're faking it' look and let her go off to bed. Tamaru thankfully slipped into her room and changed her clothes.

After she finished changing her clothes she walked over to her window and looked into the next yard. Gaaras house was all dark except for one room, his. She smiled and turned away from her window to set her alarm clock. She set it for school and curled up in her bed. Within minutes she had fallen into deep sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: wow, I haven't been getting many reviews at all. Please review it helps me keep going with my stories. Anyway here is chapter 6!

Beep, beep, beep...

Tamaru's alarm clock went off. She opened her eyes and slowly pulled herself up. Within minutes she was dressed and headed down the stairs. "Mom?" she said questionably. But then she remembered that her mom had said she wouldn't be home. She sighed and decided to skip breakfast. Again she would have to walk to school. She hated walking. As she walked out the door and shut it behind herself, she was surprised to see gaara standing and waiting for her.

"Morning," she said with a little wave. He smiled and they started off to school. As they walked along a blue convertible sped past, splashing them with dirty water. 'Sasuke,' gaara thought to himself as he looked at his now dirty and not to mention wet clothes. Tamaru spat out a bit of the nasty water and looked around. "You bitches!" she shouted at the car which was going really fast and was really far away. Gaara couldn't help but to laugh and pulled out his sand. He dried up their clothes and they hurried to school.

Finally they found themselves walking down the school sidewalk. "What's going on?" tamaru asked looking at the school billboard. Gaara looked at they sign too and looked at what it said. 'Attention students. Please report to the practice arena if you are planning in participating in this years first jutsu tournament. Your instructors can give you more details.' gaara looked at tamaru and shrugged his shoulders. Tamaru looked back at the sign and then rushed into the school with her mind racing. 'Tournament. I can't believe it. It sounds like fun.'

As she neared her locker she noticed the black haired boy named sasuke standing by her locker. He was smirking and talking to his friends. She stepped up to her locker and he moved over in front of gaara's to let her in. She got all of her things situated and got ready to head to the arena. "Hey," sasuke said as she shut her locker door. She nodded and started off to the arena. She gasped as she felt someone's arm slide around her shoulders. She looked up to see sasuke staring down with his dreamy, mesmerizing eyes. She wanted to yell, 'hey perv, get away from me.' but she just stared back.

"So, are you going to the arena?" sasuke said letting one of his fingers caress her neck. She just nodded and hoped that if she ignored him, he would go away. But he didn't he just kept his arm around her and stayed beside her until they got down to the arena. They walked to the door and as tamaru stepped inside, sasuke stopped her. He pulled her back and turned her to face him. He looked into her deep green eyes and put his hand on her face. She turned her head by instinct and then looked up at sasuke. His eyes were warm, but she could see the hint of cold in them.

"Wha- what do you want?" tamaru said, looking away from him and towards the arena door. She wanted to go in and make sure she didn't miss any of the details. But sasuke just stared at her more fiercely as she turned her head back to him. "Well, the day we met wasn't so... great. I want to start over and be friends. And maybe be even more than, friends." sasuke said. She was shocked but only for a moment because she was so concerned about getting into the arena. "I'm sorry, i really need to get in there. Maybe we could talk later." tamaru suggested stepping away from sasuke. She could see gaara coming over sasuke's should and started to step away.

But just as she was about to turn around and walk with gaara, she felt sasuke's lips crush against hers. She was to shocked to even move. Finally sasuke pulled his lips away and smiled a devilish smile. "Meet me at the bridge behind the school at 3:00, that's twenty minutes after school ends today." he stood in front of her for another second or so before turning away and walking into the arena. As tamaru came to focus again she saw a shocked gaara standing in by the door.

It was the most expression she had ever seen on his face since she met him. "Uh, lets go." tamaru said shuffling into the room with a leery gaara by her side. Luckily they had just made it to the beginning the instructions. She looked around at all the people. Some she knew, some she didn't. But the one person that caught her eye was sasuke standing there as cool as ever, like nothing even happened.

"Now, this is the first time we have ever tried this. Today I would like to go over the rules of this tournament. But before I waist my breath explaining, you have to try out first. We don't want anyone participating that can't pose as a challenge. So every one here, your name is on this list. When i call your name please come over to master Iruka and I. We will give you five minutes before we start calling names. And if you aren't called, keep practicing. You'll need it." master Kakashi said, before turning and walking to a table with master Iruka.

AN: and there you have it! Haha, please enjoy and don't forget to review: D


	7. Chapter 7

(A/N): hello and welcome to chapter 7 of my story. Please READ, ENJOY, and, REVIEW. Thnks!

Tamaru looked at gaara with a little smile. He pulled the cork out of his gourd and let the sand fall out. He started practicing and tamaru wondered why. He was the best ninja she had ever seen. She looked at the floor and then looked at her hands. 'Could i,' she thought to herself as she started to draw water into her hand from the moisture in the air. Soon she noticed that people had stopped to stare at her. She kept going pulling out more and more water and was soon whipping it everywhere with grace and skill.

As she finished the routine, her fellow students started to clap. She smiled briefly but her smile suddenly faded. "Otika, Tamaru." she heard Master Iruka shout over the clapping people. She felt her nerves go edgy and a shiver ran down her spine. She slowly stepped forward and master iruka stood before her. "Okay, all you must do is get that scroll off the wall over there." he said as simply as he could. 'What, this must be some kind of trick.' tamaru thought to herself. She leerily stepped forward when suddenly she felt a trip string pull against her leg. "I knew it!" she shouted jumping up into the air.

But as she jump a giant log swung toward her she spun and flew over it. She felt it tug at her hair. As she landed back on the ground, she saw master kakashi coming at her. She, without even thinking, summoned some water and hit him. It stunned him for only a few moments, then he was back at the chase. 'Oh crap, oh crap!' she thought to herself as he quickly caught up to her. She quickly jumped up and spun around. She pulled as much water as she could out of the air, and focused it around his feet.

She had her hands opened and then suddenly clenched them shut. The water froze fast and hard around kakashi's feet. She thought for a second that all the momentum and stopping would break his legs. But she quickly got her head back in the game and looked at the scroll on the wall. Just as she reached out for it, three scrolls appeared. She stopped dead and looked at them. "Well, well, looks like you have a problem here. Which to choose which to choose..." kakashi said with a grin and a hand sign held up.

'This seems so... familiar.' tamaru thought to herself. Then it hit her.

_Flashback_

"Now, every one listen up. In the duplication jutsu, what do you look for. Any one? Yes, sasuke." master kakashi said as he taught the class about the duplication jutsu. "Well first you should look for any original seals or marks. Those can't be copied. Then if nothing there is obvious then it is actually with the person performing the jutsu. And that is the case almost 90 of the time." sasuke said smirking and then regaining his 'i'm so mature' look.

_End Flashback_

"Gotcha," tamaru said smirking and turning to face kakashi. He also grinned and whipped the real scroll out of his pouch on his chest. "Well, i suppose so with your freezing jutsu. It is amazing, for i have never seen it before. Never the less. The rest of my body is still free and i can perform hand signs." he said hoping to wipe the smirk off of tamaru's face but he just made her smirk even more.

"You're right. Your upper body is still free...for now." tamaru said adding the end with an evil flash in her eyes. Kakashi frowned and started a hand sign but was stopped in mid performance. His hand were coming to a standstill as the water froze rapidly around his hands. The scroll was just barely sticking out but she move the water, it wiggled out, and then she made the water carry it to her. "I have been beaten." kakashi muttered. Tamaru smiled and released her jutsu.

Kakashi rubbed the feeling back into his hands and then called the next student out. "Good job," "nice one!" "You rock" random people said as tamaru came back into the crowd. She walked up to gaara and smiled. He smiled too and congratulated her. Without thinking her eyes wondered over to sasuke. He was looking at her with a strange lust on his face. Tamaru, feeling uncomfortable watched gaara battle and win, then went outside with him. They both walked around through the large court yard talking about nothing in particular until gaara just had to ask the question.

"Tamaru," gaara said taking his gourd off his back and sitting it on the ground. "Hhmm," she said as a slight wind rustled her straight dark hair. Gaara looked around, as if making sure they were alone. "What... what is up with you and sasuke?" he said looking right into her eyes as seriously as she had ever seen him. She looked at gaara with just as serious of a look as he was throwing at her. "Nothing, that perv., just thinks he can get his way with me. But i would never let him, ever! I hate that cocky bastard." tamaru muttered the last sentence under her breath. But even as she said it, she still felt that she could not help but feel taken by his handsome features. 'Its just to bad he's such a bastard' tamaru thought to herself.

Tamaru looked into gaaras eyes and swore she saw a huge sense of relief in them. But he still looked serious. "Tamaru, i..." he said looking at a loss for words. "What," she asked patiently waiting for gaara to speak. He just turned and looked at the other side of the court yard. She saw him draw in a deep breath, then he spun around and caught tamaru completely off guard. He placed his lips on hers and she almost pushed him away. But she relaxed and quickly let in to the kiss and gaara deepened it.

"You little shit!" sasuke yelled through the court yard, as he strolled out onto the grass. Gaara parted quickly from tamaru and looked at sasuke. Gaara had the look of murder in his eyes even though his cheeks had a light blush on them. Gaara instinctively pulled the court from his gourd and picked it up. He slung it over back and the sand began to fall around. "Gaara, please just don't kill him," tamaru said, also preparing to fight. She noticed that there were two of sasukes followers with him. Sakura Haruno, and Ino Yamanaka. They both looked at tamaru with complete disgust.

"You will never bother tamaru again," Gaara said, then without another word, his sand lunged at sasuke. As sasuke and gaara went at it she saw that sakura and ino had both drawn their kunai. "You little sasuke bitches ready for an ass kicking?" tamaru asked as she made a hand sign. As both ino and sakura lunged forward, tamaru multiplied and pulled each multiple pulled out a shurikan. Both ino and sakura froze, as they were surrounded by shurikan. Tamaru launched them all at once. They collided with one another as ino and sakura jumped

(A/N): soo, whatcha think?? Please let me know and stay alert, next chapter up SOON.


	8. Chapter 8

(A/N): hello thanks for all of your reviews. I will try to follow some of the criticism. This is my last chapter of this story so please review and let me know how you liked it. Thanks again for your support and enjoy the story.

Tamaru, not wanted to hurt then with a water jutsu, pulled out two kunai and ran for them with incredible speed. She came a the other girls head on and started pulling off amazing taijutsu. With a gasp and scream, ino went flying with a kunai in her arm and slumped against the wall once she slid down it. Sasuke could care less. He was to worried about keeping his head above sand with gaara. He could tell his life was at stake with this ninja. Sakura looked outraged and ran forward with a hand sign. "Ha, that is a simple move." tamaru said as she realized it was the replacement jutsu. She threw a kunai right at the fakes forehead and looked right at the unsuspecting real sakura. She threw a kunai into sakura's leg and she was down.

Tamaru stood in the middle now, of sasuke and gaara's battle. She was shaking and fell to her knees. She was scared, nervous, and just felt altogether anxious. She had just taken down to opponents at single handedly and now she was watching sasuke and gaara battle. She knew deep down that this could not continue. "STOP!" she shouted. Surprisingly gaara and sasuke both stopped their fighting to look at her. "This is stupid. Sasuke, i don't like you and yes you look good but looks aren't everything. You are a jerk okay. And gaara, you're one of the best friends i've ever had. I don't want to see you fight like this." Gaara pulled his sand back and put the quark on his gourd of sand. He walked over to her and hugged her gently. He had never had anyone care this much about him.

Just when she thought it was over and she and gaara could now go on happily, gaara's grip tightened on her and she felt him wince. She felt him become dead weight as he sank to his knees. Sasuke had thrown a shurikan and it was now imbedded in gaaras back. "Gaara," tamaru whispered, trying to keep her head. She quickly removed the shurikan to make it painless and then put pressure on the spot to stop the bleeding. "You bastard," she whispered,as gaara fell unconscious. "You bastard!" tamaru stood and yelled at him. A deep blue chakra began to swirl around tamaru and her eyes became blue slits.

"What, what's happening," sasuke said, and she could tell she was losing control and it was enough to frighten sasuke. Tamaru grabbed water from the air and slammed it into sasuke. She ran lightning fast and grabbed sasuke by the throat, lifting him from the ground. Then she came back to her senses. She dropped the frightened sasuke and watched him disappear, taking ino and sakura with him. She walked to gaara and picked him up and carried him all the way home.

She walked not to her house but instead to his and walked up onto his porch. Then as she tried to set him down, she collapsed from exhaustion. When she opened her eyes she was lying in a bed that she knew. It was not her own though. She sat up and looked around and saw Gaara lying on a cot beside her. He had no shirt on and a bandage around his stomach that covered his back. She looked a little hurt as she saw Gaara lying there.

She pulled herself up slowly and walked to the cot. Her body was very sore and she knew that she way over did it when she let the demon take over. She put a hand on Gaara's face and looked at him sleeping for the first time in what seemed like a while. As she was about to pull her hand away she felt Gaara put his hand up and hold it in place. "Gaara," she whispered as he opened his eyes and looked at her with a peaceful look on his face.

"Hey," he said softly as he sat himself up. She smiled as tried to get out of the cot then looked worried as he winced. "I think you should get some rest. How are you feeling?" she said pulling up a chair to stay by his bed side. "I'm okay, my back hurts, a lot." he said putting his back and head against the wall that his cot was against. "How are you?" he asked seeming more worried about her minor injuries than his major ones. She just smiled and said, "they're barley scratches. I'm just really sore from the over exertion. I'm fine," she finished to reassure the sentence. He smiled and closed his eyes. "Thank you." Tamaru said, knowing that if Gaara hadn't been in front of that shurikan then she would have been fatally hit. Gaara opened his eyes and looked at her curiously. "Back in the court yard, while I was fighting sasuke, I felt that I would die for you before I let that Player take your heart and break it. I guess what I'm trying to say is . . . I love you." He said and Tamaru then, as if her body was naturally moving, moved her face in front of Gaara's and just as she was about to pull away Gaara put his lips on hers. At first the kiss was small then Tamaru aloud him to deepen the kiss. Minutes flew by and suddenly a knock came on the door. Both Gaara and Tamaru jumped and looked at the door. Tamaru stood and said, "ah, come in," the door opened and from behind it came temari. "Hey you two. How are you feeling?" she asked setting down some tea. "Fine, but I should call my mom, she might be worried." tamaru said pointing to the right side of the room indicating her house which was on that side of the house. "Oh, I called her last night. She said you can stay as long as you need to. Don't worry about it." she said handing a cup of green tea to Gaara. He sipped it, then set the cup down.

"Thanks," tamaru said, she sat back down in her chair by gaara. Temari smiled and left the room after saying, "no problem," tamaru felt gaara place his warm hand over hers and she looked up "I love you too," she said. 'That took me long enough to say,' tamaru thought as she saw gaara's eyes light up like she had never seen. Gaara leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes with a smile on his face and before he knew it he was asleep, seeing the face of the girl who actually changed him floating through his mind. The girl who made him see that there was good in the world and love. That he could give love and receive it. She was Tamaru, the light in Gaara's darkness.

(A/N): well there you have it. Reviews please, thank you for all the support. I would like to start another naruto story soon with out any o.c.'s. so thank you all.


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